And Baby Makes Three
by Cyberwolf
Summary: Wherein Neji survives, and finds out he's about to become a daddy.
1. Chapter 1

**Notes** : Inspired by many late-night chats with fruitysmellz! My second attempt at a "Neji and Tenten have babies" fic.

* * *

Here's how Tenten finds out she's pregnant. It's not through a pregnancy test. It's not because she's been throwing up in the mornings. It's not because she notices she's missed her period.

She finds out in the room of her comatose boyfriend, who has been unconscious for two months, missing the climactic end of the Fourth Shinobi World War. She is haunting his bedside, as always, her face pale and her eyes dull. The room is especially full at the moment - Hiashi is there, and Hinata, and the Hokage checking on her high-profile patient. Lee and Gai are there. Kiba is there, accompanying Hinata, and his mother as well, dropping by to exchange quiet words with Hiashi. Naruto is there, as he often is, hangdog expression as he looks at Neji. He blames himself, though no one else does.

Then Hyuuga Neji, coma victim, bolts upright, his Byakugan at full power. Everyone stares. There is a moment of silence.

The first thing he looks at is Tenten's eyes. Then his eyes swing downward towards her belly.

"Oh my god, we're pregnant!" he chokes. These are his first words in almost eight weeks.

Reflexively, the other Hyuuga in the room have activated their doujutsu as well. Hiashi, surprised, is the first to speak.

"…holy shit, he's right."

* * *

There is, of course, instant uproar. Between Neji's nigh-miraculous recovery and the discovery of a completely unlooked-for pregnancy, there is a lot for everyone in the room to process. Hiashi is mildly annoyed that Tsume simply stands back and laughs, although he is grateful to her son for catching Hinata when she faints. He hopes no one caught his quiet and inadvertent cursing.

Tenten sways, looking to follow Hinata's example. Neji tries to lunge for her, but his weakened and unused muscles do not obey him. Instead Naruto catches her, supports her, and Tenten leans on him. Neji's face shows a flash of jealousy.

Naruto is beaming. His thought process is clear. _'Neji's awake! A baby coming! Baby! Baby! Baby!'_

Lee and Gai are clutching each other and weeping. Their thought processes are also clear. ' _Neji's awake! A baby coming! Such an explosion of youth! Youth! Youth!'_

Tsunade is an island of calm in the sudden chaos of the room, checking Neji over with swift expertise before turning to Tenten. She holds her right hand over the kunoichi's belly, and it glows with green chakra.

"I'll be damned. You _are_ pregnant," she says. She eyes Neji. "So there was a little sparring in between the sheets before you went to war, hm? Very smooth, Hyuuga."

Neji coughs and tries to look as dignified as possible.

Tsume roars at that, while Hiashi gives thanks his daughter is safely unconscious.

* * *

A little while later, the room is emptier. The Hokage has been called away by matters of state. Kiba has offered to carry Hinata to an empty cot - he is sure she will want to visit her cousin when he awakens. Hiashi has departed as well, his duties as clan-head calling him, though he has the time to share a few warm, heart-felt words with his nephew. Tsume accompanies him, teasing him in a low voice about his "lady-killer of a nephew."

Lee and Gai, too excited to stay still, have been banished from the room until they burn off some of their exuberant energy. Tenten had managed to convince them to run a thousand laps around Konoha in honor of Neji's return, and then a thousand more in honor of her pregnancy.

Tenten smiles at Neji, her eyes bright with unshed tears. He opens his arms and she comes willingly. When Lee and Gai return, they find Neji and Tenten entwined together on the narrow bed, peacefully asleep, Neji's hand resting protectively on Tenten's stomach.

* * *

The other Konoha 12 gather in Chouji's favorite yakiniku place. Sasuke, still under probation, is not there; neither is Neji, still confined to hospital, nor Tenten, who never leaves Neji's side for very long.

So that leaves the others free to discuss the two soon-to-be parents.

"I can't believe Neji knocked Tenten up!" laughs Naruto. "Talk about a hypocrite…what was all his talk about not being a pervert and not being swayed by 'unseemly passions'?" Despite his words, his tone is fond.

"The clan sees it as a blessing," Hinata murmurs, blushing slightly. "Hyuugas…do not conceive or bear children easily. We usually need….some aid in the matter. This happening so easily…."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Kiba says, counting on his hands. "So Tenten's two months and two weeks pregnant. Hokage was pretty precise and you gotta be with Hyuuga pregnancies, ma told me, cos of what Hinata said, they need lots of doctors and oversight and precise dosages of supplements and chakra infusions at like every stage. That means…." Kiba sits up, grinning widely.

"Oh man! Remember when we all got together for one last big bash right before the war? And those two begged off early because Neji said he was gonna meditate and then Tenten said she was gonna go over her weapons one last time? That's when they banged! It's gotta be! That dog! He snuck off so he could have some bow-chick-a-wow-wow with his girl!" Kiba yelps, admiring Neji more intensely in that moment than he has ever admired any other male.

The other boys - except for Lee - howl with laughter. Hinata blushes and Ino hits Kiba upside his head. Sai diligently takes notes.

* * *

When Neji is finally allowed out of the hospital, Hiashi arranges a quiet celebratory meal for the boy. It is truly a family affair - only Hiashi and his daughters are present. And Tenten, of course.

The light dinner conversation drifts in the direction of the wedding Neji has mentioned to his uncle. "I was thinking we could hold the wedding in the Fushimi Temple, Hiashi-sama, and the reception at the main courtyard," Neji suggests.

"Excellent idea," Hiashi approves.

Tenten blinks. "The…the wedding?"

Neji goes pale and drops his chopsticks. "I forgot to ask you," he whispers, turning to stare at her.

Hiashi drops _his_ chopsticks then. Hinata and Hanabi merely freeze mid-bite, all three staring at Neji incredulously.

"Um." Neji actually wiggles nervously. "So, will you?"

Tenten blinks again, and then smiles. "Sure! But is it OK if we use some Yong traditions? Because of my mother's homeland, you know."

"That can be arranged, I'm sure," Neji nods, already regaining his equilibrium. "Let's talk about it some more after dinner."

"Great!" Tenten chirps, and re-dedicates herself to her rice.

Hiashi, Hinata, and Hanabi are all still staring.

* * *

The wedding is arranged quickly but well. The clan is impressed with Neji's young bride for her combat skills mostly, (and the younger males for her beauty) but after the wedding they also respect her logistical skills. The wedding ritual itself is small and intimate, attended only by their close friends and relatives. The reception, however, is a much larger affair, filled with high-ranking personalities. It is one of the first excuses Konoha has had to celebrate after the war, and they seize the chance whole-heartedly.

The alcohol flows freely and the food is delicious, varied, and more than enough to satisfy everyone's appetites - even the various Akimichis in attendance. Tenten wears a red silk qipao dress to honor her mother's faraway homeland, cleverly tailored to hide the very slight thickening of her middle, and with golden dragons and phoenixes embroidered onto the fabric. It is obvious to everyone that Neji is utterly besotted; he cannot drag his eyes away from his bride for even a minute. When he is forced to look away, he activates his Byakugan so he can still keep her in sight.

Someone spikes Hiashi's drink and he finds himself weeping on Tsume's shoulder that Hizashi should be here to watch his little boy get married. Tsume tactfully maneuvers them away so no one can see or hear the Hyuuga clan head show emotion.

* * *

When the new Hyuuga Tenten moves into the compound, she quickly makes herself popular by being helpful, friendly, and warm. Neji is immensely proud of himself for marrying Tenten, and for fathering a child with her, and he struts whenever he strolls the Hyuuga grounds with his pretty young wife at his side.

His male cousins are getting slightly sick of him. His female cousins, however, are rather struck by the image of Tenten glowing with pregnancy, and they coo about relationship goals, and nod approvingly whenever Neji fetches her things or heads out to hunt down whatever food she's craving.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes:** Inspired by chatting with fruitysmellz and real stories from expectant mothers. An AU where Neji lives and everything turns out improbably wonderful.

In this part - cravings, nut-cakes, and Tenten terrifying Hiashi.

* * *

The Hyuuga clan is used to difficult pregnancies. The peculiarities of their bloodline limits means that conception is difficult to achieve in the first place, and miscarriages sadly common. It is a dark joke among them that only the Hyuuga could deal with such pregnancies, because without the Byakugan's ability to see the developing fetus, even more miscarriages would occur than already do.

They are used to exhausted and weakened women, all their energy and chakra redirected to the high demands of the growing fetus. The Hyuuga blood limit is particularly demanding in its development, with the highly complex genetics of the Byakugan exacting a high toll in chakra and the mother's health. The Hyuugas are used to enforced bed rest, highly regimented diets, and closely-watched daily routines.

That is why they find Tenten's cheerful vitality strange and just a bit confusing. She no longer spars, but does spend much of her time performing katas and shadow-boxing with Neji. Tsunade herself is her personal physician ("After that dramatic announcement, I just have to see this through to the end," explains the Hokage) and assures them that not only can Tenten maintain this level of activity, it's actually good for her and the baby. It takes a reputation the size of the Hokage's to keep the Hyuugas from asking Tenten to take it easy, please.

True, Tenten is a jounin - field promotion from the Fourth Shinobi War, with enthusiastic commendations from Darui of Hidden Cloud - and with larger-than-normal chakra reserves for a kunoichi, which explains her less-than-stellar chakra control. It's well-known that the higher the chakra capacity of the mother, the better off the child. Still….

Tenten leaps up to the roof in order to enjoy the sunset light, a leap easily twenty-five feet high, and every watching Hyuuga winces.

* * *

"Have you seen Hyuuga Tenten?" Hiashi politely asks the chuunin receptionist at the Hokage's Tower.

"Hyuuga Tenten, Hyuuga Tenten," mumbles the woman as she thumbs through a sheaf of papers. "Oh yes. She's on a C-class courier mission…."

Hiashi pales.

"…with Hyuuga Neji."

(Neji, it is discovered, thinks of these missions as great chances to have long walks outside Konoha walls with his wife.)

* * *

Neji is ecstatic to have a reason to teach her meditation techniques ("It's good for you and the baby," he argues, and Tsunade backs him up) and Tenten finally submits to his long-running attempts to get her to try meditation. She finds she likes it, much to his pleasure, and they spend long quiet hours together in the garden.

* * *

Tenten has never been overly picky about her food, or about anything really. Her easy-going nature and willingness to adapt was a major, if unacknowledged, reason Team Gai throve as it did, with someone to counterbalance the intensity of its male members.

Which is why she finds it hard to admit to her sudden and intense cravings.

She's staring at a fruit stand, her eyes fixed on the bright yellow-gold of tropical mangoes. Her mouth is watering.

She brings home eight point five kilograms of the fruit, having cleaned out the stand, and eats every single mango over the next two days.

* * *

Neji, on the other hand, _loves_ to fetch her food. He loves feeling needed and he loves the feeling of providing for his pregnant wife. His attitude is something like a cat proudly leaving a kill in front of his mistress.

He begs her to tell him if she craves for anything - at once. He yearns for the pride of being his wife's food-bringer. It's subtly primal in its intensity.

"Do you want donuts? The fancy imported ones from Kumo? I can get you that. Fruit shakes made with Kiri spring water? More mangoes?"

"Neji, I want to sleep."

"All right, but if you want _anything_ , wake me up, OK? And I'll get it for you."

"I want you to be quiet and lay there so we can cuddle."

* * *

Lee is visiting. He has brought fruits, peaches and blueberries and strawberries. (No mangoes though.) He cuts one peach up for them to snack on.

Tenten watches him handle the knife and is filled with rage and disgust, anger as intense as the sun. Her teeth are bared in a snarl, unknowingly.

Lee doesn't notice, but afterwards Tenten is in awe of the power of her own moodswings.

* * *

Tenten becomes used to Hyuugas activating their Byakugan around her for a moment, scanning her developing baby with their silver eyes. Neji finds the little new life - a new life from her and him - growing under her heart absolutely entrancing, and will sometimes spend entire hours just watching her stomach.

The Hyuugas are not a communicative people. Hence, situations like Neji and Hiashi not talking about the death of the one man they both loved best in all the world for about a decade despite the severe impact it had on both their lives, and how desperately they needed to talk.

The Hyuugas don't gush at Tenten. Instinctively private and intensely aware of the harm even a gentle touch can inflict on a person, they do not lay hands all over her without her permission. They bristle and form up protectively when they see Tenten being so handled by enthusiastic matrons outside the clan.

And so, none of them mention the fact that they can tell the baby is a boy. It simply does not occur to them.

Neji is completely stoked. (The fact is, however, he would be just as stoked if the baby had been a girl.) He croons at Tenten's belly, at their son inside her, and tells Tenten that when 'he' arrives, they'll do all sorts of things together, and how secure their quarters will be, and how fiercely he will kill anyone who threatens their baby. (It's how Hyuugas show love - through hurting others. Hizashi understood how much Hiashi loved his daughter when Hiashi killed the Kumo kidnapper with one swift blow). At no point does he mention the word 'son' or 'boy'.

* * *

Hiashi is the one who ends up breaking the news to her, accidentally.

"We should start preparing the molds for the nut-cakes now," he tells her with a smile; he is pleased that his brother's line will be continuing. "We'll get enough round ones to send a nut-cake to everyone in the Village."

At any other time, Tenten would be pleased and touched by Hiashi's obvious interest and good-will towards her pregnancy, and that he knows enough about Yong cultural practices to know that it is tradition to send nut-cakes in honor of a baby's arrival - round nut-cakes for a boy, smaller and more delicately-molded tortoise-shaped nut-cakes for a girl.

But all she can parse, right now, is how certain Hiashi is when he talks about round nut-cakes. He _knows_.

And then certain other things snap into place; comments others have made, about colors and superstitions. She remembers Neji saying "he'll be perfect" and the male pronoun takes on a new, specific significance.

Everyone but her has known the baby is a boy.

Tenten bursts into tears. Hiashi is completely terrified.

* * *

Hiashi initially thinks he has somehow, accidentally, greatly offended Tenten by getting the Yong traditions wrong.

Wearing an expression of open and utter terror, he pats Tenten gingerly on the shoulder, with an air of someone handling live explosives. "I - I'm sorry. Did I get the shapes wrong?"

"I'm a bad mother," Tenten sobs in reply.

"What?" is Hiashi's erudite and intelligent response.

"I didn't know he was a boy!" Tenten weeps.

"….oh," Hiashi says.

* * *

Hiashi sorts things out, assures Tenten she is a good person and will be a great mother, and apologizes for his and his clanmates' failure to remember she herself cannot see inside her own womb.

"You fit in with us so well it's hard to remember you weren't just born Hyuuga," Hiashi explains.

Tenten calms down after a cup of Hiashi's favorite sencha tea and some amusing anecdotes the normally-staid clan head shares. It surprises her to find out that Hiashi had raised his daughters as a single father - a paranoid, overprotective one who was - she now realizes - traumatized by the kidnap attempt on Hinata and made up for it by being stern on his children, thinking it would drive them to become strong. It also means that he had not trusted nursemaids with his daughters until they were old enough to run and do some Jyuuken self-defense, and could be left in the care of trained shinobi like Kurenai and Ko. So, he has quite the stock of wisdom about changing diapers and dealing with milk-fevers.

Time and age and exposure to Naruto's sunny, fate-breaking will (and to Tsunade's open-handed rule) has mellowed Hiashi's harsh edges and taught him much. The man sitting beside Tenten and assuring her earnestly that she will be a wonderful mother is completely different from the one who Neji had hated so as a genin….or maybe he isn't, and that man had been there all along?

* * *

Neji's still in the dog-house when he gets back from his mission, though, to find Tenten waiting for him with an angry glint in her eye.


End file.
